Rail joint



A. F. FIFIELD RIL JOINT Feb. 12, 1929" *A MT I 1,702,017 fB-ATENT formes,

msnm snm rrrxnnn, oren cnrs, ONTARIO, cannon, Assrenon To man AMERICAN omo. f

noni: a; non cour'm, or' CLEVELAND, onro, n oonronnrron or' Application met. November l1', 19%?. Serial No.- 232,543#- This inwention relates to an im rovement 1n rall jomt construction and re etes more particularly to wear'comp'ensating vmeans for old or worn' rail joints, whereby rail joint 'l e bars which .have become worn by movements of the rail in the joint andfwhich otherwise are suiciently strong' to. moet the requirements of practical use may' continue to be employed for ecient use in connection with lo either old rails ornew rails.`

I ao the ends of the rails.

l am aware that therev has been proposed for use a shim construction which permits the litting of the same in place between worn portions of a rail joint side bar and the enden sides ot the rail head and which will permit continued use of the rail joint side bars regardless of the amount ot wear had on their upper inner surfaces. These prior sbims are broadly of two general types, which l might term whole and halt shims. Shines oi the whole type, are tapered both ways trom their mid-portion whichare dis posed adjacentthe ends of tbe rails, one et such shims being placed at each et the two sides ot the joined rails, Whereas the bali type shims are tapered in one direction only and double the amount of such shines are required.

'lhe present invention relates particularly to improvements in whole type shims and has for an object the provision et a shim ot the whole type which ma be accurately positioned relative to the rai joint ends and without liability ot displacement therefrom during use ot the rail joint.

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Another object of my invention is to pro-- vide an improved rail joint shim of the whole7 type,in which the breakage, it such occursF due to operation of the joint, not result in longitudinal movement of the shim along the joint, such as would impair the usefulness of the shim as' a weer compensating meV j v Y AAnother object of my invention is to protor wear occasioned by the two rails ot a joint. l .j

Other objects .of the invention' and the in- (lll vention itself will become apparent, by reference 4to thea-following description of certain embodiments ot my invention and in which vdescription reference will be had to the ac- 'companymg drawings, illustratingithe said embodiments and in which drawings:

Fig. l shows in transverse section an embodiment ot my invention comprising a 'sec- @tion of rail with the sidebars bolted thereto and interposed wear compensating shims loetween the heads ot the side bars and the nnderside ot the rail head flanges;

, l'g. 2 shows a perspective view of a whole type shim embodying ,my invention, two ot which are adapted to be disposed in a rail joint, as shown in Fignl l;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified torni ci' the embodiment ci lig.. 2,'

fd' ig. al is a perspective view of another em= bodiment of my invention;

.Fig -is a section talren on the line 5--5 of Fig. il;

Fig. t is a side elevational view et the shim oit Fig. 2;

ig. 'l is a side elevational view oi the rail joint of Fig. l with a rail joint shim, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6; shown therein and with the side bar removed so as to permit a Vdirect view of the shim; also in this ligure,

in dotted lines, is shown an alternate positioning ot the shim tor a special purpose subsequently herein referred to.

Referring now rst to the embodiment ot my invention illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6,

and as applied-to a rail joint, as illustrated a elfngloying side bars shown at 2, a plurality o olts, two of which are shown at 7 and`8 and others such as 9 and 10, to secure the side bars in place in clamping engagement with the rails. These bolts project through apertures 11 provided by piercing the rail web 3 at spaced intervals and `I therefore provide spaced depending portions or prongs 14 and 13 integrally formed with the apron 1, of the shim projected below the level of the bolts `and adapted to beplaced intermediate those bolts'7 and 8 which are placed nearest the ends of the rails 15 and 16.

The `disposition of the prongs 13 and 14 with their outer lateral edges 17 adapted for engagement with the bolts 7 and 8 uponendwise movement of the shims and of the lower edges 18 of the apron disposed for engagement with the upper surface of the bolts 7 and 8 accomplishes a substantial uniformity of positioning relative to the spaced ends of the rails 15 and 16 and prevents displacement, especially in the longitudinal direction of the shims relative to the other parts of the rail joint. Except for such a provision, the thickest part X, Fig. 7, 4ofthe shim which in the figure is shown as being disposed adjacent the space 20 between the rails, might be shifted to occur remote therefrom in one direction or other and which might not coincide with the points of greatest wear of the rail joint side bar 2, for whichthe greatest thickness of is adapted to compensate.

At the same time, however, it is sometimes found that in rail joints, particularly wherein the rails are used by trains traveling mostly in a single direction, as in one-way traffic, that the rail of thejoint, such as the rail 15, termed the receiving rail which is traversed by the wheels of the train last is caused to poundmore vigorously than the rail 16 at the approach side of the joint and consequently a larger crevice is produced below the rail head 21 of the rail 15, in such a case upon the upper surface 22 ofthe rail joint bar, and therefore it is desirable that a rail'joint shim of the illustrated in Fig. 6 be shiftable e longituxally of the rails to the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 7, wherebythe -point of greatest thiclmess X may be moved longitudinally of the rails to a position indicated by the arrow at X-X.

In this case the end of the shim underlying the rail head of the rail 16 will have its end edge 23 moved longitudinally of the rail 16 to the dotted line position-23', and the prongs 13 and 14 will necessarily be placed as illusmoved to a position where the thickest point underlies the point m-, Fig. 7. In such ,alternate dotted line position of the shim,

the prong positioned at 13 is adapted for engagement by its inner adge with the outer lateral surface of the bolt 8 to prevent longitudinal shifting of the shim from its said alternate position, illustrated by dotted lines, toward its solid line position.

Sometimes,'as has been previously stated, the movement of the rails eects a breakage of the shim and I find that the provision of the notches N, Figs. 2, 6 and 7 and the inverted V-shaped'notch N', Fig. 3, and the groove extending along the line of the face of the shim, shown in Fig. 5, at N", effects the purpose of causing the breakage to occur along a line of cleavage starting approximately at the point 7:, Fig. 7, and continuin transversely across the shim to the upper e ge 27 of the notch N in the case of those constructions illustrated in Figs. 2, 6y and 7 and to the axis 28 of the notch N of-Fig. 3 and in the case of the Figs. 4 and 5, the breakage will occur along the lines N, that is, in that line indicated in Fig. 4.

In all of the above cases the terminating portion of the line of breakage lies wit-hin the rongs 13 and 14 and may for instance be a ong the waved dotted line shown at y, Fig. 7. This is more true because of the shim being weaker in transverse sections between these prongs than it is in portions including the prongs where the shim is of greater width,

and also because the greatest stresses are cxbetween the notch apex 28 and the point a:

which is disposed intermediate the rails. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the groove N so weakens the mid portion of the shim that upon breaking stresses being communicated by the ends of the rails, the breaka e will ocour along the line 5--5 of Fig. 4 an the shim I will beas in the previously described shims of Figs. 2 and 3, divided into two half-shim sections each having a depending apron with lateral outer edges- 17', corresponding to the edges 17 ofthe prongs' 13 and 14 of Fig. 7, in engagement with the bolts 8 and 7.l The plates engaging the lateral edges 17 will prevent longitudinal displacement of the thus accidentally formed shim-halves.

Having thus 'described my invention in A" several embodiments, I -am aware that several departures may be'made from the embodiments herein illustrated. and described. butwithout departing from the spirit ofmy invention. l j l vIclaim:`,".

1. A shim for worn rail joints comprising a body of angular cross-sectionirognessively thickened from its ends towar' its mid section adapted to iill'the worn portions bei l tween the'end side of the rail heads and the joint bar,v said shim being so formed as to be more susceptible to transverse breakage in its thickened mid portion than in portions relatively remote thereto.A

2.*-A shim for worn jointsl cdmprising a body of angular. cross-section rogressively thickened from its ends towar its mid section to provide fori the filling of the worn portions between the under side of the rail 'heads fao.

andthe joint bar, and comprising a 'depending apron "adapted 'to be 'positioned between the rail joint bolts nearest' the endsof the Trails to prevent'longitudinal displacement of the shim in the'joint, said shim being so :Eormedin'itsmid portions relative to the jected to transvers y, -im ressed breaking f stresses due to movement o under sides of a formation -insportions longitudinally adjacent thereto as to insure transverse breaka e in the mid portions u n the shim being su the jointed rails inuse.

3.1A wear compensating means r for -rail joints .comprising a metallic shim member progressively-thickened in the direct-ion of its length toward its center adapted to beinterposed between the joint bar and the. air -of lrail heads to'com pensate for .wear etween the under sides of fio the rail heads and the joint bar, said shim` comprising a depending` apron positioned between therail'joint bolts nearest theends of .the rails to p revent longitudinal displacemento-i` the s the joint, .the shim and apron being weakened in'their'midportions relative to adjacentv portions.

4, A wear compensating means for rail joints comprising a-met-allicshim member of angular cross-section, progressively thickened in thedirection of its length.. from its ends to its middle and comprising a' 'aipf a acent a di erent one'of the pair-'of rail joint bolts disposed 'nearestthe ends ofthe rails spaced a ron prongs each lpositione joined and engageable with said bolts to revent longitudinal displacement of-thes im in the joint,

5. A wear compensating meansiorrail joints comprising a metallic'sh'un member of angular cross-section, rogressively thickcned inthe 'direction ci) its length from.. its ends to its middle and comprising a pair of spaced apron prongseach positioned adja'- more susceptible to br the prongs than in longitu lly1 contigu-4 -joints comprisin a m -sitely thickened v pending Vcenta dierent one of the pair of rail joint' bolts disposed nearest the ends of the rails joined and ble with said bolts to revent longitudinal vlacement of the im in the joint, said shim being transversely intermediate ousprtions. l E .all

6. wear Icompensatin means or r etalic shim progresjoint,'and comprising depending portions ad-l jacent the middle' portion -adapted to engageY withthe jointA securing bolts disposed nearest the center of the joint to prevent longitudinal displacement ofthe shim in the joint.

7. A'shim for worn'rail joints comprising a body of angular crosse-section havlng an angular section tapering'in thickness from an l om each end in thedu'ec- 4tion of its length toward the center ofJ the en toward the center of the joint and adapt- Y ed to be disposed between 'the under side of- 4the head of a rail end and the uppersidel of 'a `jointbar and comprisin apron adapted to contactpwith a joint bolt4 a depending to restrict the shim from longitudinal 'move mentinthejointg-'flj' '.8. A .wearcompensata' `means for worn rail joints comprising ausim section taper- .ing in thickness in the direction of its length toward the center of the'joint and comprising a depending portion adapted to engage a Y securing bolt ofthe joint to restrict longitudinal'moveme'nt of the shim in the joint.

joints comprising a metallic shimv section taperin in thickness `froml its mid portion toward th its ends and the thickened por-- tion being adapted to be disposed bneath the ends of adjacent rail heads above the upper edge of the joint bai-Sto compensate for wear between the, opposing surfacesl of the heads and the joint bar,A and comprising j 95 A wear compensating means for rall a depending portion engageable with relatively immovable portions of the joint to restrictv movements of the shim 'in alongitudinal d i- 4rection relative to the ends of the rails.

le with relatively 

